Honduran decree lifted, but broadcasters still shuttered

Three days after the Honduran interim government led by
Roberto Micheletti lifted a September
27 decree that allowed them toshut
down Radio Globo and Canal 36, broadcasters loyal to ousted President Manuel
Zelaya, the two stations were still prevented from resuming normal transmissions, according to
local and international news reports.

On Monday, Honduras’
interim government revoked the controversial decree,
which curbed constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties. The de facto government
argued that the emergency decree was intended to prevent unrest among Zelaya
supporters. The former president was overthrown in a June 28 coup.

Radio Globo resumed
broadcasting online a day after the government shuttered the station by
force, but Canal 36 remains off the air. The government has not yet returned
equipment seized from either outlet. Micheletti said on Monday that in order to
resume broadcasting the stations “will have to come to the courts to recover
their right to be on the air,” The Associated Press reported.

Local journalists and press freedom activists said they
thought the outlets would reestablish operations after the decree was lifted,
but now nobody knows when will that happen. Esdras Amado López, owner of Canal
36, described the decree’s repeal as a “lie aimed at deceiving the
international community,” AP reported.

The state of press freedom in Honduras has worsened since Zelaya
was overthrown, according
to CPJ research. Honduran security forces shut down local broadcasters,
blocked transmissions of international news networks, and briefly detained
journalists in the aftermath of the coup. As political tensions, protests, and
violence have intensified, coverage has been skewed at
times. Unidentified assailants have attacked media
outlets and harassed journalists
covering both sides of the crisis. The offices of the national daily El Heraldo were attacked by
unidentified assailants on August 15. A broadcast journalist was shot dead on
July 4; CPJ is investigating whether his death is linked to the political
crisis or to his reporting.

CPJ Senior Americas Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría, a native of Buenos Aires, is a widely published journalist who has written extensively for Noticias, the leading Spanish-language newsmagazine.
Follow him on Facebook @ CPJ en Español.